But, friends, until this afternoon, I knew nada about feminine protection.
So, first things first. Why did I know nothing before this afternoon while I'm now an evolving expert? Well, word from the earthquake zone is that they need more and more of said materials. We shipped down a few cases the other day but it hasn't even made a dent in the need. Why? Not sure. And I don't want to ask. Comrade Aron (as I'm often called here, which is very cool, I think) is just doing what he's asked to do.
If you asked me to buy toothpaste, that's easy: tartar control (not to be confused with the more delicious tartar sauce), flouride or not...really pretty simple stuff.
Deodorant? Piece o cake. See, you have three varieties: deodorant, anti-perspirant, anti-perspirant slash deodorant. You can be NARS (Not a Rocket Scientist) and still buy something that will make you smell as fresh as honeysuckle.
Feminine protection? Different ball game entirely. On a normal day, I guess I'd be choosing between formats and sizes. With wings, without wings (um, I'm getting hungry for wings) then maxi, mini, midi (I'm not sure if that one even exists - I may have just invented it). You get the picture.
But, today, I also had to factor in issues such as packaging and, of course, price. Logically, big packages are cheaper. But, if I buy packages too large, I can reach fewer people. It makes more sense to send five women each one package containing 10 pads than send one woman a package containing 50.
So picture me at Wal-Mart on Jianguo Men Dai Je street, my "neighbourhood" here in Chaoyang district, the only man within 500 metres of this section of the store and the only foreigner in the entire Wal-Mart. So I'm standing there with a pad of paper and a pencil calculating until price, using my pocket English-Mandarin translator to negotiate a discount and generally trying not to get thrown in jail for loitering. Or looking like a freak.
I think I've got it figured out. So, tomorrow, we're going to make a big purchase at several Wal-Marts and maybe even a Merry-Mart (the local version of the same).
We spent an hour or so this morning examining finances. We're tight, but looking good. Here's a summary:
With the money that arrived from Canada today, I have ¥42,700 remaining in cash in the safe.
We have committed ¥25,000 for the new shipment of tenting materials, including the truck to drive it from Shandong and our truck to take it to the Chengdu train.
We owe ¥1,000 balance on the Children's Day cards
We will buy 1,000 shirts at an AMAZING price of ¥7 each for a total of ¥7,000
This leaves us an uncommitted ¥9,700 (please, any mathematician out there can correct me if I'm wrong)
So, we will use that ¥9,700 for feminine protection and powdered baby formula. We'll get a fair amount of that as they need it not only in the camps for the displaced people, but also in the orphanages.
And, how was YOUR day :) ?
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